The Grey and I finally got rolling again. Not far, just over to Edinburgh. The main aim was to join with Mac1 in our annual ritual of perusing new art at the Royal Scottish Academy's Open Exhibition in the National Gallery of Scotland.
We always enjoy our gallery visits - and the yearly show of new works for collectors of all means and substance is a source of great discussion, appreciation, and - occasionally - envy. A large part of each year's show depends on how the works are hung/curated. Then there are the works that have been selected (a great many more are submitted than get a showing), and whether we see their merits or otherwise. Thirdly, there is the personal selection - which we would covet and which we would reject. Each year has a distinct 'presence' and not every year is successful overall, in our eyes. Sometimes my sister has loved a show when I have thought it unremarkable. Sometimes the opposite. On two occasions, we agreed the showing was very poor indeed, neither of us enjoying more than about a dozen pieces. This year, though, the 200th since the inception of this exhibition, we could probably count on the fingers of both hands the number of works that we felt ambivalent or slightly put-off by. There were a great many I would happily have made my own, had the means and the space been mine to arrange them!
That said, I had been perusing the advance catalogue online and already had a wide selection that I wanted to lay 'raw eyes' on. A significant number of those I had listed were sold very quickly! This narrowed down the decision field. Above, you see me contemplating some of the photographic works... but to the far left is a dark, smoky piece that I really liked, which sold almost immediately. Not only did I find it mesmerisingly meditative (not really obvious from this photo), but it was also created using pigments from peat in the Hebrides... and red soil from Nharangga Country in Australia (Sarah Bold, artist).
There was a great deal to see. We entered shortly after eleven in the morning - and were ejected at closing time, five in the evening! As we entered via the grand staircase, we were met by two fascinating sculptures... you'll see those in next Menonday's post. In the main foyer, there were two pillars draped in organza (Leila Galloway, artist) that were much more impressive in person than they appear in the photo.
The two paintings on the far wall were among those on my personal list. Both sold... the one on the left is by Reinhard Behrens, whose work always has an element of whimsy, whilst being solid landscapes. The more open abstract piece is by Gareth Fisher, current president of the RSA.
The works of Alfons Bytautas have always fascinated me, and one day I will add a piece of his work to my collection. Not this year, though, as the one I wanted of the four on show was, of course, sold. (I like how, in some fashion, the shadow of Mac1's arms and phone on the skirting echoes the patterning of AB's work above... that's not the one I wanted... this was.)
There were quite a few works that centred on stone in some form or other... some quite literally.
I'll tell you more about this one when it comes up on the Menonday posts, but suffice to say that the 'do not touch' warnings were, for once, truly hard to obey! These were just magnificent.
In total, there were ten rooms dedicated to the exhibition. The curation was top-notch, giving a fine flow to the show. The items selected nearly all met with our admiration. There was just one room (and it was all in that one room) that we found ourselves unmoved and disengaged from the works on display.
It was not that the items were entirely without merit - indeed, some could clearly be seen to have been well executed. It was more the subject matter and the overall tone in that room which left one feeling ... disturbed? Cold? Certainly not interested.
As hinted, I had decisions to make. Yes, to those who were paying attention - I did purchase The Trawler! That, though, was not part of this group of works. From this year's offerings, I made four purchases... but which ones, you will have to wait and see!!!